Once you can identify your go-to emotions and the triggers that are running through your mind and body, you can process them through your body and eventually release them. This recodes your body to a new state, allowing you to experience new, rejuvenating, and peaceful emotions that will positively affect your body and mind. When we don’t release these trapped emotions, they become stuck in the body and create dis-ease or diseases and illnesses.
This exercise offers a way to identify and release negative emotions. You may have to do this process repeatedly with one emotion. Take your time and trust that the work you are doing is beneficial, even if you don’t see changes right away.
Part 1: Identify a negative memory
1. Recall a trigger: Pinpoint a situation, person, or memory that provokes a strong negative emotion, like anger, anxiety, or sadness. Think of an argument with someone that still upsets you or a memory that stirs discomfort. Visualize the situation clearly. This is your starting point for releasing what you no longer need.
2. Identify the feelings: Ask yourself, “What feelings are associated with this?” “What am I feeling when this happens or when I interact with this person?” Label the emotions clearly such as “I feel rejected,” “I feel anxious,” or “I feel resentful.”.
3. Notice the trigger: Reflect on what, in this situation or memory, is causing the negative emotion. Is it a word, tone, look, or thought? For instance, if you feel anger when someone interrupts you, notice that the interruption is the trigger.
4. Find the energetic imprint: Take a few deep breaths and notice any sensations in your body. Where does the feeling seem to “live”? Is it a tightness in your chest? A sinking feeling in your stomach? Where, as specifically as possible, do you feel these emotions? Now, observe how the emotion moves and its color. Is it swirling, pulsing, or radiating in a particular direction? Give it a specific color that matches how it feels. For example, perhaps your anger feels like a pulsing red in your chest, or your anxiety like a churning gray in your stomach.
Part 2: Neutralize the emotion
1. Breathe: Place your hand over your heart, inhale deeply through your nose, and exhale slowly through your mouth. Picture the breath moving in and out of your heart area. Calming your body and mind helps you process the emotion instead of reacting to it. Slow breathing signals safety to your nervous system.
2. Practice mindful acceptance: Accepting the feeling without judgment helps neutralize its power over you. Observing, rather than resisting, allows emotions to naturally fade. Accepting the feeling without judgment helps neutralize its power over you. Observing, rather than resisting, allows emotions to naturally fade. Tell yourself, “I’m allowed to feel this.” Allow the emotion to be present without trying to change it. Simply watch the thoughts and feelings arise and pass, as if you’re watching clouds drift by.
3. Shake it off: Gently shake your arms, shoulders, and head, imagining the negativity physically leaving your body with each shake. Physical movement can help release the residual tension of an emotion. This “resets” your body and prepares you to fill the space with something new.